How to make a Professional Short Film for $80 (Part I - Pre-Production).

Step 4 Planning and Pre-Production (Equipment & Props)

Equipment:
Let me begin by saying that I am going to create a separate instructable entirely devoted to this topic. Do you have anything you want clarified? Do you have a prop or costume you want to know how to procure for cheap? Post a comment here and I'll check back and write it up if I can help!

So you have your film all planned out and you are preparing to film. But what are you going to film on? I could write pages and pages on the topic (and will soon) but this instructable is supposed to be general. Let me say this, if you are buying a camcorder under $1000 then get either a canon HV20 or HV30 (should be around $650 and $750 respectively). A Canon HV30 was used to make my film. I will explain why in this mythical upcoming instructable. If you are spending more than $1000 then you probably know what you are doing and don't need my help.

If at all possible, procure a tripod with a fluid head. You should be able to find a very good amateur video tripod for no more than $125. Check B&H or Amazon.

I highly recommend using an external microphone for recording. When used in conjunction with a boom pole (mind the shameless plug) you can get drastically better audio. For a consumer camcorder, try the Rode VideoMic. You can get it for no more than $150.

Okay. I know that adds up to more than $80 but the only thing that is absolutely, positively necessary was the camera and I already assumed you have that. Don't consider these purchases so much as investments. You only have to buy it once and you're set for life, or at least until some new cool toy comes out.

Props:
I try not to spend any money on props. However, this is where the $80 from my film went. You can probably beg and borrow almost everything you need for a film from friends and family. The SWAT guy, if you watched my movie, is where all my prop money went. It was composed of a police uniform from Party City, skateboard pads, and a helmet and vest purchased from an Airsoft Store. Total cost:$80.

If you need a specific prop and are having trouble finding out how to find or make it. Please comment below and I will try to help you in my upcoming instructable.

Comments

[knoxarama]

snybody know where to get a good, cheap shotgun mic?

[theghillieman]

http://www.suntekstore.com/14-37-inch-professional-shotgun-microphone.html I own this one and it has amazing sound quality; and you cant beat it for $31 (you can also get it on ebay but it costs a little bit more)

[Paul D]

So Hermes, Here is my dilemma. My prop-list is running about 200+ items, most if not all of which I can borrow but like you might have encountered during pre-prod I couldn't find any cheap SWAT or in my case full riot Police costumes for cheap, for some reason they keep coming up only for kids...anyhow. Here's the actual problem, I don't only need one or two SWATs, rather I need fifteen to twenty of those...So i tried local party stores and said "hey will you let us use some costumes for sponsorship in our creds and things like that. Seems like none wants to be nice. If you have any good suggestions I'd love to hear it cause at this pt we might have to end up making it a staged production, where we could conceivably get away with less SWAT costumes and more importantly cheap material to make these with. Let me know. Thanks, V

[Future filmaker]

This is a classic dilemma I've run into quite a bit. Let me shoot a brief story by you quickly. When Steven Spielberg was making Sugarland Express (very early into his career), he had 20 police cars. He need 100. All through deceptive filming, short cuts, and jumping from multiple POVs, he was able to achieve his vision of having 100 police cars. My best advice to you is to get your 2 swat team outfits, and use some deceptive angles, cover the other guys with their shields, and have them wear clothes similar to the look and color of the actual outfits and make them look like they're all wearing a swat outfit. Also, try filming at low angles of the SWAT guys, because then the main features of the costume won't be seen, and make a lot of cuts between the officers and the riot. On a final note, if you can make a crude replication of anything, then build the prop and use deceptive angles yet again to make it look realistic. Hope that helps FF

[Paul D]

That's great. Thank you very much for the feedback I will most likely be doing something in that nature. Appreciate it. V

[Paul D]

Oh and great film by the way. Compliments

[movie man]

I need to make an alien costume, a blaster, and a portal. Got any tips??

[tyler9613]

Wait--Does the HV30 record to minidv? This one I found here (http://www.stopandshopdigital.com/products.asp?dept_id=&product_id=282) does. I thought it recorded to harddrive or memory card??

[Hermes]

Yes, the HV30 will record HD video to miniDV in the HDV codec.

[Cay97]

me: im pretty confused. me an my friend want to turn this into a full-length movie, so we're scraping the barrel a bit. how do you find a flashy, greek and roman time sword with ivory dragon patterns on it? friend: first of all, cool site dude! how do you suppose we get $$$ for tha video mic and the camera? and do we need more than 1 camera to shoot from different angles? me again: we're looking at a fantasy film here, based on my book, and the heroine flys (nyad) do we need a harness, or something, green screen??? what should we use for the set?

[dragonmaster]

Hello my name Is Israel and I have a camcorder Sony DCR-DVD 305 the visual rocks but the audio sucks! and it does not process an external Mic input so what can I do?

[Hermes]

You can buy a portable audio recorder. Many mp3 players can do this in addition to dedicated recorders. Trying looking around google to see if there is anything within your budget. What would that happen to be?

[endolith]

How is it under $80 if you have to buy a camera??

[michaelbak]

He says quote "I am going to assume you have the following items." end quote so i think you are supposed to have those items. The $80 go's to the film cost like food , drinks , permits , crew , ect.

[endolith]

That's silly. I'll write one called "How to make a feature film for 5 bucks": "I'm going to assume you already have completed sets, a production studio, film crew, paid actors, finished script, ..."

[Hermes]

Nearly every household in america has some sort of video recording device. Wether it is Hi8 or Blu-ray recording, we all have camcorders - which is what I used. You wouldn't pay for driving school lessons and say, "$50, that's ridiculous I had to buy a $17,000 for this class..."

[Labot2001]

It's not all that stupid to assume that you have a camera... Someone's just being a wittle troll.

[michaelbak]

I don't have a professional camera but i am saving up for one! Also , you can rent equipment from video rental houses or always check friends!

[endolith]

I don't have a professional video camera. Do you? From the title, I thought it was going to include tips on how to get temporary access to cameras and other equipment without paying for them.

[Hermes]

I used a consumer camcorder. A consumer camcorder can create professional footage, if you know how to use it.

[Roflolommo]

unless you actually plan on making a professional movie (in which case im sure there are better sources(no offense to hermes) than an instructable) i doupt you would need a professional camera. but endolith i laugh at you because i have access to a professional video camera, lights and video editing software.